Dr Susan Oman

I was appointed as Lead for Human-centric AI for the University of Sheffield’s Centre for Machine Intelligence in June 2024, where I champion cross-university research, learning, and engagement activity that raises awareness of AI’s role in society—for good and bad. I’m leading numerous projects for the CMI, including an AI section of the University of Sheffield Player, the upcoming Sheff-AI Showcase at the Festival of the Mind (November 2026) and the Chief Scientific Advisor’s visit to The University of Sheffield. I represent the work of the CMI and the University at sector and policy events and with the general public via regular media appearances on the BBC. Highlights include being an invited speaker at the All Party Parliamentary Group on AI and the British High Commissioner’s residence, New Delhi, with UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in attendance. 

I am also a member of the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations, where I hold teaching responsibilities. This follows five years in the Information School (now the School of Information, Journalism and Communication) and thirteen years of prior teaching and leadership beyond the University of Sheffield. I have contributed learning and teaching delivery and development across data science, arts and humanities, social science research methods, policy studies, digital media, and communications, together with industry partnership and placement learning.

Prior to my appointment as Lecturer in 2020, I held consecutive AHRC fellowships investigating data in the creative economy: one at the Sheffield Methods Institute (2019) , and one in the School of Media and Communications at the University of Leeds (2018). The impact of this research was recognised by the AHRC and Arts Council England, who partnered on them. 

I gained my PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester, where I was based in the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) in 2017. This interdisciplinary research investigated the cultural politics of participation, data, and well-being, looking closely at metrics and knowledge production for policy. My MA was in Cultural Policy and Management and my BA was in Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

In 2024, I was appointed to the UK Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) College of Experts. This followed a two-year research-policy placement inside the department as an AHRC Policy Fellow for Digital and International Audiences (June 2022–24). I am an Associate member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence (APPG AI) and was a member of the UK Delegation to India’s AI Impact Summit in Delhi. 

My 2021 monograph was endorsed by pre-eminent cross-disciplinary academics alongside leaders in the BBC and Arts Council England. Downloaded over 75,000 times, it appears on international syllabi and has also been developed into an interactive website: well-beingdata.com to train policy practitioners, students, and researchers. It has informed presentations, workshops, and strategic advice to international policymakers and practitioners, in and beyond DCMS, DSIT, MHCLG, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, the Welsh Government, ADRUK, the BBC, and Sheffield City Council. 

Beyond academia, I have worked as a curator and art gallery manager, and within the IT recruitment and financial services industries. I also spent five years working as Placements and Partnerships Manager for the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, innovating professional learning and cross-sector engagement approaches.